“You Need To Snap Out Of It” & 25 Other Things Said To Those With Mental Illness

Mental illness is a huge problem, with globally more than 300 million suffering from depression alone. Yet so many of us choose to believe it is all a sham.

In the world today, mental illnesses are reaching record high figures, yet we lack the common understanding of considering mental illness a disability. As a matter of fact, it is a leading disability, battled by people all around the globe, on a daily basis and yet, it is made fun of and discredited in terms of ‘not being a real illness’ in our country.

What each one of us needs to know are a few facts and figures, in order to set our minds straight.

More than 300 million people suffer from clinical depression and 260 million suffer from anxiety, globally. While, 42 million suffer from both. 90% of suicides committed in the world are by those who had an underlying mental illness. Are these figures enough or should we continue in order to make our point?

To make matters worse, people surrounding the ones battling depression, a lot of times just add the cherry on top of the cake. How you ask? By saying the most demeaning and ridiculous things one could say to someone fighting mental illness.

The thumb rule is, if you aren’t supportive of it, at least don’t be disrespectful towards it. The worst thing you can do is to disregard a person’s serious condition, illness, or whatever you choose to call it.

Don’t believe me? Read for yourself!

Below are a few of the worst things ever said to people with mental illnesses that I have curated from Twitter and other social media sources. I would not like to name them, as they would like to keep these confessions anonymous.

• “You should try getting a hobby instead of being sad all the time”
• “I don’t get why you’re not better, you’ve been going to therapy for like a year now.”
• “So what happened? why are you so depressed?”
• About my anxiety: “We all worry sometimes”
• When I told a therapist I was having problems with food/eating: “Do you just not know how to cook?”
• One of the bitter advices: “I think if you stop talking about it you’ll forget about it altogether.”
• “Everyone has a stressful job, I have a stressful job, what makes you think you should be treated better than everyone else?” – from a therapist after my suicide attempt.
• I asked if he really thought that was helpful, “I’m not here to help you, you need to help yourself”
• “It’s all just an excuse, you were feeling alright the other day!”
• “I told someone I had OCD and their reply was ‘Oh so you like to clean then’. I said, ‘No, I struggle with intrusive thoughts and worry about bad things happening’. Their reply then was, ‘Oh, so you’re just superstitious?’”
• “He didn’t have the backbone to kill himself” – My mum, after I told her my dad killed himself, suffering from the same illness as me.
• “You need to snap out of this – you are not helping yourself”
• “Other people have it much worse than you do.”
• “Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”
• “Everyone else is dealing with life, so why can’t you?”
• “You’re just being selfish.”
• “But you look so normal! And aren’t you so articulate and intelligent?”
• “It’s just an excuse to be lazy.”
• “It’s attention seeking” (eating disorders)
• “You sound like a psycho” (being sectioned)
• “Try NOT to be sad” (depression)
• “Snap out of it” (all)
• “Lots of people have it worse than you”
• “You don’t look ill”
• “I wish I was anorexic”
• “I was in therapy and my therapist asked me how I would self harm, when I told her how, she told me I was “creative”.

We need to wake up, NOW!

So, what is the deal with us and our society? I think the ones dealing with these insecurities aren’t the ones who are broken but those of us who don’t understand their condition and pass judgemental remarks are. Wouldn’t you advise a friend or a family member to see a doctor if they had a heart condition or a fracture? Or would you still say “it’s all in your head!”, “Snap out of it!”, “Be optimistic and think more about happy stuff!”, would you?

It’s high time, we realize that mental illness is no joke, there are people dying of it each day, everyday. It’s a serious business. It’s a serious illness that needs professional help and medicines and counselling.

All We ask for you to is be open to the idea of mental illness, if there’s someone around you, who looks dull or sad, talk to them. If anyone you know is battling with anxiety or depression or any other form of mental illness, help them in getting counselling and seeking professional help, or just BE THERE. You owe it to the planet you live with the people you live among!

What are your thoughts on mental illness?

Image source: shutterstock

Drishti Shastri

An engineer by the day and a writer by the night. Poetry, music, beaches and

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